The present invention relates generally to the field of systems for and methods of processing purchase orders. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems for and methods of efficient scheduling and processing of purchase orders.
One particular business that processes purchase orders is the retail business. Operations for a business often include purchasing merchandise from a supplier for sale to customers or for use in the processes and products for the business. Generally, purchasing merchandise or supplies from the supplier involves sending a purchase order to the supplier requesting a specific number of items for a specific price. The number of items multiplied by the price of the items provides a total cost associated with the purchase order. Prior to sending the purchase order, the purchase order may need to be approved by an entity, such as a budgeting department. The entity may apply one or more rules to the purchase order in determining whether to approve the purchase order. For example, a rule may dictate that the approval is granted or denied based on whether incurring the total cost of the purchase order is acceptable in view of budget constraints. Accordingly, the purchase order is approved or rejected based on budget constraints prior to being sent to the supplier.
The retail business can require that certain purchase orders be processed in a very short amount of time, while other purchase orders must be placed well in advance of the desired delivery. For example, changes in current trends in the fashion industry may require that inventory be increased on short notice. For certain aspects of the fashion industry, items may be required to be ordered one or more seasons in advance. An advantageous purchase order system must accommodate this variation in lead times of the ordered items without unnecessarily tying up funds.
Each purchase order may include numerous items that are desired at a particular delivery period. In order to ensure timely delivery, the purchase order may be placed well in advance of the desired delivery period. Typically, funds from the budget corresponding to the purchase order require binding at the time the purchase order is placed. Binding of the funds at this early stage may result in detrimental cash flow or other financial shortcomings. Accordingly, it is desirable to delay binding of the funds as late as possible.